Current sensors exist in many designs and variants. Current sensors which detect the magnetic field generated by the current, which are packaged in a conventional IC housing and in which current conductors through which the current to be measured flows are passed through the housing are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 7,129,691, international patent applications WO 2005026749 and WO 2006130393 and US patent application US 2010156394.
Since the current conductor guided through the housing has a relatively small cross-section and an even further reduced cross-section in the area of the magnetic field sensors, in order to locally increase the current density and therefore the magnetic field there, the heat produced by the power loss in the current conductor leads to heating of the current sensor which brings about undesirable drift fluctuations of the magnetic field sensors.
The invention is based on the object of developing a current sensor which requires little space, is cost-effective to manufacture and does not show the mentioned disadvantages.